SPOTLIGHT ON: RYAN HALL'S PAPER ART TOYS featuring his 3-D Paper versions of HORDAK, HE-MAN and WONDER WOMAN

These aren't your Grandpa Grayskull's Paper Art Toys.......

It is with great pleasure, and extreme excitement that I am back again to spotlight yet another fantastic Toy Artist who has found their way into my plastic, slime-filled heart. This is the second part of what was originally a trilogy, but has since become a quartet of super special Spotlight Features here on Hoard World. 

If you missed out and want to read the first spotlight in this series that started way back in September, and focused on the awesome Goodleg Toys, you can do so right HERE.

This installment, we focus on reknowned UK Paper Toy Artist Ryan Hall. He creates handmade 3-D Paper Toy Art. It's quite exceptional stuff. You can find out about some of his other work at his word press site and follow him on his Facey B to see what he's currently working on! You won't be disappointed.

Since I've known Ryan, he has had a variety of exhibitions of his work, both in the UK and internationally. Within the last six months, he even had a Linda Carter approved Wonder Woman piece displayed at the Art Boy Gallery in Melbourne.

Personally, I was incredibly grateful and honoured when these Hordak and He-man pieces arrived on Hoard World many, many moons ago. If I had any self-respect, I would have written this tribute quite a while back. Alas, time waits for no Hoardax.

Here's some words from the artist himself about his He-man and Hordak pieces as well as a bit about his own origin story and influences.

HOARDAX DREAM CASTS THE NEW MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE LIVE ACTION MOVIE

Hoardax is such an egomaniac, he second-screens his own site when watching ANYTHING.

In 1987, one of Cannon Film's finest filmic moments was Masters Of The Universe starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella. I saw it at the cinema as a child-like Hoardax. It blew my eight year old mind right in half. Cleaved in two like the power swords of the original MOTU storyline.

However, I realised pretty early into the flick that it was different from the Filmation cartoon and I was fine with that. I remember realising years earlier that the Filmation cartoon was also very different from the mini-comics and toyline I had already grown used to.

It was all a great lesson while I was young and impressionable that if you're a big enough fan of something you will adapt to various interpretations and find something to like in all of them. Sure, you don't have to, but it's entirely possible.

The original Masters Of The Universe motion picture is not why we're here today.

We're here to talk about the inevitable new film.

The highly anticipated and possibly-never-actually-happening modern interpretation of the 30ish year old Mattel kids toy line. Hasbro have had massive amounts of success with their licenses regardless of quality. Sci-fi / Fantasy / Superhero movies are the toast of the town right now. 80s nostalgia is peaking. Verily, we are living in a golden age that can only truly peak with a Masters Of The Universe live action film.

Personally, I think it could work better as an ongoing, dark, tongue-in-cheek Fantasy/Sci-Fi show with a macabre sense of humour that doesn't shy away from the existence of characters like SNOUT SPOUT. Maybe even on a US cable network. But that'll probably never happen.

So instead, let's CAST the future blockbuster attempt to create a new film franchise based on literally one of the weirdest and oft-maligned concepts in toy (and probably sci-fi/fantasy history).

This is my casting for the Masters Of The Universe film. The first film. If the powers that be ever read this and heed my words, there will be sequels. Verily.

TOP 5 WAYS YOU CAN TELL IT'S THE HOLIDAYS aka IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE HOARDSMAS.......

You can tell it's getting to be some sort of Holiday Period when stuff like this awesome Kirby-inspired Art by Michael Cho starts turning up and getting re-posted all over the internets.
Picture Credit: Kirby Museum

It's been far too long since I've cracked open this blog and writ in it. It got quite dusty in the time I've been away. There was now a family of Spidermans (pronounced 'Spee-dur-man') living inside it, some of the plastic had begun to yellow, and the electricity had been disconnected.

SPOTLIGHT ON: WOTU - WRESTLERS OF THE UNIVERSE: DEAD DIEBIA$E, MONEYBASH, MERMANIAC & THE 2-BADDERS: NUKE & CLUTCH by GOODLEG TOYS

What have we here? It looks like a Wrestlers Of The Universe Bootleg!

About 3 months ago, your old pal Hoardax initiated contact with some of his favourite Art Toy creators, Luke Toywalker, Ryan Hall and Eric Nilla. I asked them if they'd be interested in having their work "spotlighted" right here on Hoard World, and they were all nice enough to agree. They immediately sent me a bunch of info and were incredibly friendly and helpful. Brimming with earnest excitement and a sense of purpose, I took a stack of photos of their stuff and then.....ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED!

Like, for ages.

Until right now.

I'm not going to delve any further into my time management skills (should I ever get around to posting ROUND 2 of the perennial favourite that is the ASK HOARDAX segment, the definitive origin of that particular anomaly will rear its untimely head), but I would like to express my regrets at not getting this stuff out a lot sooner.

Let's begin with part one of the trilogy: WRESTLERS OF THE UNIVERSE!

The header card for WotU is by exceptionally talented artist Ralph Niese.

EXCLUSIVE REVEAL: GENERAL SKALE & DELGON FROM THE SLIMES WAVE 2 by RAMPAGEO INDUSTRIES!

General Skale from Slimes Wave 2

If you know Hoardax, then you'll know that he likes slime. He does have a plastic slime-filled heart after all.

So, it should be no surprise to you Hoard Worlders at home, that he is incredibly proud to share with you this exclusive reveal from our good friends over at Doom Kick!

The next release in The Exciting World of Jalldoon: Slimes from Rampageo Industries is right around the corner!

This release consists of four All New SLIMES, as well as an all new full size magnet articulated figure and a few surprises!

We previously covered the first series of Rampageo Industries' Slimes right HERE.

Following Preternia.com's earlier reveals of Princess Ikari and King Valdar, HOARD WORLD is exclusively previewing the next two evil characters from this brand new wave. The fearsome General Skale and the plague-bringing Delgon (brother of wave 1's Jelgon) are ready to bring ruin to the forces of good!

Get on it.

GUEST SPOTS AT THE EPIC REVIEW: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD'S TARMAN, MARVEL ZOMBIES' COLONEL AMERICA & ZOMBIE SUPERMAN?

Late last month, your old pal Hoardax did a series of zombie-based guest spots for The Epic Review's Resident Evil Anniversary Week. For those of you who missed the constant plugs for these over at the Hoard World Facey B, here's a blog based summary. I love clip shows.

You can read the spotlight on the 2012 Amok Time Toys release of the Tarman figure from Return of the Living Dead right here.

Please note that for the duration of these guest "reviews" I thought it was hilarious to refer to eBay as "Michael eBay." Oh what fun!

Most of us are well aware that due to a series of convenient yet unfortunate circumstances, Cap is a Man Out Of Time. But what about a Captain America review that's also been chronologically displaced?

Travel all the way back to the year 2007 AD and pretend that Diamond Select's Marvel Zombies Colonel America only just came out RIGHT HERE.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, I took a brief look at this eBay purchased Superman Figure anomaly and incongruously likened his existence to Clive Barker's Hellraiser.

You can read all about the mysterious "Zombie Superman" right HERE.

And that's it!

Please enjoy responsibly.

yr pal,

Hoardax.

GUEST COLUMN: TOP 5 ACTION FIGURE LINES WITH AWESOME ARTICULATION by DOOMKICK.COM!

All photos taken and text written in this guest spot by Jesse Chagnon.

This is a guest article by prolific toy review site DOOM KICK! Thanks for getting on board The Hoard Dr. Rampageo!

GUEST SPOTS AT DOOM KICK, POE GHOSTAL AND DINOSAUR DRACULA!

A still photo from the set of Kramer V. Kramer remake: Hordak Vs Hordak. Alternate European Title: My Two Dads.

Recently your pal Hoardax has been cheating on his own blog with other sites. A guest review here. Some strange content there. In case you've missed them, I thought it might be a good idea to hoard this recent batch of goodness in the one convenient spot. Kinda like a Clip Show. Ya dig?

THE SPIRIT OF HORDAK!

This is what "The Spirit Of Hordak" figure looked like when it was on sale at Mattycollector for about 40 minutes today.

Earlier today, a surprise, mystery figure went on sale at Mattycollector.com. It was something completely unexpected and most people were left blissfully unaware.

Until they weren't.

And then they were a mixture of  shocked and enraged.

I was alerted to all this by fellow Hoard Worlder Dan Maraldo (all the screen grabs you see in this post were originally taken by him except for one - no matter what sites you see it on) at about 4.30AM in the morning Hoard World Time (I'm sure it was NOT that time for a lot of you) and I couldn't believe my own eyes when I saw it.

Was this for real? Yes. Yes it was.

I uploaded this pic that Dan had shown me to the Hoard World Facey B with links to the sale page as fast as my little plastic legs could carry me but about two minutes after I posted it, THIS happened when you clicked on the link.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE DAY!

This is how Trap Jaw and Fang Man celebrated MOTU Day this year.

I bet you've been crossing off dates on your wall calendar, counting down the sleeps and waiting feverishly in anticipation while looking at a clock. I bet you thought the day would never arrive. Well, it finally has and that time is NOW.

It's Masters Of The Universe Day!

I know there's three or four of you out there that are wondering what MOTU Day is? That's ok. Don't be alarmed, embarrassed or even ashamed of yourself. We're all friends here. Theoretically.

MOTU Day is April 28th or so it was decreed back in 1987 by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. He might not have meant for anybody to celebrate it in 1988 or ever again, but it's still an absolute fact. This actually happened. It doesn't matter that it was created for the sole purpose of promoting the POWER TOUR that was running through LA at the time - if it was good enough for Mayor Tom Bradley and the fine people of Los Angeles, it's good enough for you.  MOTU has an actual day. (See: Los Angeles Times Article April 23rd, 1987 to read it transcribed in print)

So it was declared, so it shall be done. Forever and ever.  He-men.

But what are you supposed to do on Masters Of The Universe Day?

I guess that's up to you.

Picture by DOOMKICK.

There were some people out there who did the only thing any right-minded MOTU FAN could summon up the energy to do. They BLOGGED. Oh, how they blogged. They blogged the Stinkor out of it.

History would forever remember them from that day forth as
The Magnificent Seven

...people what done blogs about MOTU on April 28th 2013 and stuff.

Each site has special MOTU surprises for all those playing along at home. It's a veritable treasure trove of content you will almost definitely enjoy:

ItsAllTrue.net talk about He-man. All of the He-man. It's quite good. You should read it after you read this. The fine folk at DoomKick (who had the bright idea of reviving MOTU Day for the people and spearheaded this cross-over) have done not ONE but three MOTUC reviews covering Skeletor, Battle Armor Skeletor and Snake Face (whom I still haven't received in the mail yet because I live off-planet). Preternia give Fang Man a going over with some fantastic pics. Battlegrip has more MOTU-related content than you can poke a Power Sword at and The Epic Review takes a walk down memory lane with their Top 5 MOTU-related memories! I also have it on good authority that the infamous Poe Ghostal is taking a long, hard look at Jitsu.

But what about lil' ol' me?

How did Hoard World spend MOTU Day? Great question. Glad you asked.

HOARD WORLD GETS SLIMED! SPOTLIGHT ON: THE SLIMES FROM THE EXCITING WORLD OF JALLDOON BY RAMPAGEO INDUSTRIES

"Looks like the little bugger brought some friends with him this time, Hoardax."

This is a very special occasion. This is officially Hoard World's first spotlight on a designer toy line!

What are they? 

That's a great question and I'm glad you asked.

AT EASTER, NOBODY CAN HEAR YOU EAT CHOCOLATE!

I don't know where Hoardax got his eggs from this year but I think they might be past their expiry date.

EXCLUSIVE: VINTAGE AUSTRALIAN TOY CATALOGUES FROM THE 80s AND 90s!

1985 Masters Of The Universe Competition found in an Australian Magazine
(not 100% sure which one, but it has been narrowed down to either TV WEEK, WOMAN'S WEEKLY or NEW IDEA)
I wonder who won the Masters Of The Universe SUPER 550 Competition? Was it YOU?

Greetings Hoard Worlders!

Earlier this week, one of your fellow Hoard Worlders (Mr. Brendan Ryan) approached me with some rare scans from his personal archives!

Many of them, I have never seen before (in real life or online) but a lot I do vaguely recall from my own childhood.

Nevertheless, I couldn't possibly keep them to myself and with Brendan's blessing they have been released back into the loving eyes of the viewing public.

This is all very exciting and a little bit of a Hoard World Exclusive since I have had difficulty locating ANY of these elsewhere.

Never-before-seen Toy Catalogues? Well, not quite. But it's been a long time since anyone's seen these.

Let's begin, shall we? I have such sights to show you.

SPOTLIGHT ON: GARBAGE PAIL KIDS

The iconic Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) trading cards from the 80s have been invading our consciousness now for almost 30 years. They owe their existence to cartoonists Art Spiegelman & Mark Newgarden and the Topps series that came before (like Wacky Packages). Naturally the original GPK artist John Pound also played a huge part in their origin since he drew the entire first series. And of course, The Cabbage Patch Kids were instrumental to the GPK's creation since they were the very thing being parodied.

They were so successful they were released all over the world (usually under a different title i.e. in New Zealand and Australia they were known as "The Garbage Gang.") and even spawned a live action movie and an animated series.

TOP 5 VALENTINE'S DAY TIPS OF ALL TIME!

Hoardax's Online Dating Profile 

NAME: Harold H. Hoardax

OCCUPATION: Overlord/Part-time eBay seller

AGE: You don't wanna know.

SEX: See Above.

LOCATION: Hoard World.

LOOKING FOR: Love in all the wrong places. 

LIKES

Hoarding

Plastic Things

Hoarding Plastic Things

DISLIKES

My brother Hordak

Going outside

Dust.

Valentine's Day. 

Love it or hate it - you can't escape it. 

Sadly, even Hoard World isn't safe.

And as it turns out there's a whole 'nother side to Hoard World that you ain't seen before.

I may not be able to write a dating profile to save my plastic behind but I know what love is.

I present to you now:

HOARDAX'S BEST EVER VALENTINE'S DAY ADVICE.

HAPPY NEW YEAR HOARD WORLDERS!

Happy New Year for whenever it's happening to you!

As you can see, It's happening on Hoard World right now!

Thanks for Hoard Worlding with me in 2012.

All the best to everybody in 2013!

yr pal,

Hoardax.